WotC: Souldn't Magic Items Be Classified By Function?

[delericho]

Not necessarily. It may be that 2 items of the same level cost different amounts: eg a sword +2 and a sword +2 that grants Second Wind as a free action 1/day are probably the same level, but the second would cost more than the first.

No, I'm pretty sure they have confirmed that all items of level X will cost the same amount. It was an idea I really didn't like at the time, but I don't recall hearing that they'd changed their minds.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Man Just reading through this thread and others we need a sticky FAQ for all the acronims and terms people use (and I am not cool enough to know).
Especially ones that relate to MMOs (*spit*) that every gamer is supposed to know- If it ain't a FPS {I'll put it in the sticky} or a sim it doesn't go on my PC!

Is spitting on MMOs really the way we want to go with civility here?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I would like, no, I demand, Pantaloons of Fire.

Date Lindsay Lohan.

 

[Wormwood]

Date Lindsay Lohan.

Okay, I actually LOL'ed.

 

[small pumpkin man]

I'm not glad of this at all, as it becomes too obvious what something does just by looking at it. Field-testing magic items because you *don't* know what they actually do is a large part of the fun/mystery of the game; codifying things such that items that go in slot x always perform a variant of function y takes most of this away.

Except of course, it isn't obvious, you have slightly more clues than 3.x but not that many, oh, and a lot of players hate trying to figure out what magic items do.

I still maintain that any item carried/worn anywhere should be able to be enchanted for any function, and that the primary way to limit min-max builds is to do away with the idea of PCs being able to relatively easily make or custom-buy their own items.

Except of course that this is a play style dealio, which WotC can do jack about, they have to balance the game with rules, which is why they're putting in a lot of siloing rules.

One of my all-time favourite articles from old-time Dragon Mags consisted mostly of a couple of random tables for oddball magic items - one table for what it was (spoon, glove, telescope, etc.) and a second table for what it did (+1 protection, night vision, levitation, etc.). This looks to be exactly the direction 4e design is moving away from, and the game will be poorer for it.

Lanefan

You're kidding right? Those are the silliest items I have ever seen, I have one player in particular who would literally break me in twain if I started putting in spoons of protection, gloves of night vision and telescopes of levitation in our game, in fact those are very good examples why thematic siloing of abilities is a Good Thing.

 

[Ahglock]

I

And personally, I really don't like the ideas of Boots of Intelligence +2. It totally doesn't fit my image. Even with the 3.0 and 3.5 generous item-creating rules, I would probably have never made such an item. It just doesn't fit thematically.

Thematically I'm on the other side of the fence. The idea that someone couldn't enchant there shoes for intelligence but can enchant a hat for a+2 int makes so little thematic sense to me it hurts. Sure I can pull up thematic reasons for it, but it always seems cheesy to me.

 

[JohnSnow]

Thematically I'm on the other side of the fence. The idea that someone couldn't enchant there shoes for intelligence but can enchant a hat for a+2 int makes so little thematic sense to me it hurts. Sure I can pull up thematic reasons for it, but it always seems cheesy to me.

Sympathetic magic seems cheesy to you?

Okay, sure.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Is spitting on MMOs really the way we want to go with civility here?

We hates the MMOs. Filthy lying MMOs... they stole our Precious froms us. *grognard*

 

[pemerton]

No, I'm pretty sure they have confirmed that all items of level X will cost the same amount. It was an idea I really didn't like at the time, but I don't recall hearing that they'd changed their minds.

I think you're right, as I've seen others saying the same thing.

 

[JohnSnow]

I think you're right, as I've seen others saying the same thing.

It was in the Design & Development - Magic Item Levels article posted back on December 3rd. So, I'd say it's pretty solidly confirmed.